It's always nice to get a little something back from the tax man, especially around this time of year. But the recent opening of a new hotel in Christchurch, New Zealand, has proved to be a deliciously sweet moment for a local property developer who has been engaged in a running battle with the inland revenue department for the past 13 years.

On location ... bedrooms are compact with designer touches
Hotel SO has 284 rooms, 190 of which can best be described as compact, but featuring designer touches such as graphic repeat patterned wallpaper and mood-enhancing lighting. Following the models of the Hoxton Hotel in London or Yotel at Gatwick Airport, unwanted amenities such as mini-bars and Corby trouser presses have been replaced by the smart features, such as wireless access and MP3 sockets in the rooms, that many modern travellers now so crave. Room sizes are smaller, but the savings are being passed on to guests, with doubles starting from a very reasonable NZ$89 (£32) a night.

So far, so not especially ground-breaking. But what is special about Hotel SO is the location. Not so much the central Christchurch position, but the fact that it is in the building that once housed the inland revenue department that pursued developer Dave Henderson into bankruptcy.

The financial wrangle has been documented in the film We're Here To Help, which was released in New Zealand to coincide with the opening of the hotel on November 6. But if you can't wait for the UK release, here's a brief synopsis of what happened. In 1994, Henderson dispatched his girlfriend to the tax offices to submit an application for a NZ$65,000 (£23,723) rebate. Inappropriate comments were made to the girlfriend, and Henderson felt obliged to defend her honour. Result: a Kafka-esque twist in which the tax office audited his books and issued a claim for NZ$1m (£365,159). A four-year legal battle in the high courts followed, the claim was eventually overturned and Henderson received his original NZ$65,000 refund.

At which point, most people would probably be happy to retire to a quiet corner and lick their wounds, along with the insides of a couple of bottles of champagne. Revenge tasted sweeter to Henderson, however, so he bought the building, put his name over the door and evicted the tax department. He then set about raising the NZ$40m (£14,606,388) to develop the space into Hotel SO, and is now looking to roll out more in Auckland and possibly London and New York. So, really, we owe a debt of gratitude to the New Zealand inland revenue, the tax department that just likes to keep giving.

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